# Chapter 252: Town Spirit Princess
A tall, thin gray-robed elder walked out from the wind and snow, with a high-bridged nose, deep eyes, and gray-white hair parted down the middle, hanging from the top of his head all the way to the ground.
Around his body, violent wind force flowed, producing "swish swish" wind-splitting sounds.
If one observed carefully, they would discover that the gray-robed elder had no legs; the robe was empty underneath, and he was entirely supported by a wind force that held him three feet above the ground.
This person's control over wind force had already reached a realm of divine mastery.
Han Qiu climbed out from the sunken pit, gasping for breath. Her entire body had dozens of bloody wounds, but none were fatal—just superficial injuries.
"Swish!"
The white jade ancient sword that had fallen more than ten zhang away flew back into her hand.
Han Qiu stood horizontally with her sword, killing intent contained in her beautiful eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Uncle Master Huo, are you trying to kill me?"
The gray-robed elder was an elder of Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion, and also a member of the Four Directions Commandery royal clan. His name was "Huo Jingcheng," and he had a Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage cultivation.
Back when he was in the Earth Extreme Realm, Huo Jingcheng was already a two-absolute genius, able to fight across two realms.
After breaking through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, someone had crippled his legs, severing the meridians in his lower body, causing his blood and qi to be blocked and his strength to decline somewhat.
However, with his strength, he could still easily fight across realms.
A cruel smile appeared in Huo Jingcheng's eyes, and he said: "For the sake of the Four Directions Commandery, you and Zhang Ruochen must die. Qiu'er, I'm sorry, but your uncle master has no choice."
"Zhang Ruochen? Who is Zhang Ruochen?" Han Qiu showed a surprised expression.
Huo Jingcheng snorted coldly: "Don't play dumb in front of me. Today, if you don't hand over that account book, I, this old man, will make you wish you were dead rather than alive."
Han Qiu said: "I'm very curious. Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion has treated your Four Directions Commandery well, so why are you secretly cooperating with the Black Market?"
Huo Jingcheng snorted coldly again: "Treated us well? More than half of Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion's resources, finances, and manpower come from the nine commanderies west of the ridge. Our Four Directions Commandery sends large amounts of cultivation resources and silver coins to Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion every year—what exactly have we gotten in return? Cooperating with the Black Market, at least it's an equal trade, and we can gain enormous benefits."
Han Qiu said angrily: "If it weren't for Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion, could you have cultivated to the Heavenly Extreme Realm and become a top-tier martial arts expert? If it weren't for Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion holding back the savage beasts at Demon Ridge, the entire Four Directions Commandery would have long been ravaged by beast tides, civilization destroyed, and turned back into a wilderness."
"Enough nonsense. Who has the account book?" Huo Jingcheng said.
Han Qiu said: "No matter who has it, it won't be handed over to you."
"Whoosh!"
A gale swept through, and Huo Jingcheng's speed reached the speed of sound. As he flew, the spiritual qi of the entire world vibrated.
If one looked from afar, they would only see Huo Jingcheng standing more than ten zhang away, but in almost an instant, he arrived in front of Han Qiu, extending two fingers like iron hooks, trying to grab her neck.
"Reversing Heaven and Earth."
The true qi inside Han Qiu surged out like a tidal wave. Every inch of her skin seemed to turn into divine jade, crystal clear and translucent, erupting with light as intense as the blazing sun.
With a swish, she suddenly leaped above Huo Jingcheng's head and struck down with a palm.
Huo Jingcheng's hand claw missed. Sensing the true qi fluctuation, he immediately looked up toward the sky, formed his five fingers into a fist, and punched toward the heavens, roaring: "Cloud Tiger Collapsing Mountain Fist."
"Boom!"
Under the powerful palm force, Huo Jingcheng's legs were driven deep into the ground. The surface cracked with patterns, and true qi vibrated outward in all directions.
Huo Jingcheng grinned cruelly: "So this is the Ultimate Saint Qiankun Technique? Unfortunately, you're still too green."
"Boom!"
Huo Jingcheng's body sank directly into the ground, leaving only a deep hole on the surface.
Han Qiu withdrew her palm seal, landed on the ground, and stared at that hole. Suddenly, she sensed true qi fluctuations behind her.
Her expression changed. Just as she was about to turn around, she felt a powerful fist force surging from behind.
Huo Jingcheng burst out of the ground behind her, threw a punch, and struck her back.
Han Qiu immediately infused true qi into the jade beads on her wrist. The inscriptions in the beads rushed out and condensed behind her back into a two-meter-long light shield.
"Bang!" Huo Jingcheng's fist struck the light shield, creating ripples of true qi.
The fist force was blocked by that light shield. Han Qiu was only sent flying forward and wasn't injured.
"Protective Jade Beads!"
Huo Jingcheng laughed coldly: "Let's see how many punches you can block?"
Huo Jingcheng charged again. Wind blades gathered on his fist, and he threw another punch.
Han Qiu was extremely anxious in her heart. With her cultivation, she was no match for Huo Jingcheng.
Although she had reached "three-absolute half," the gap between Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection and Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage was still a gap of three realms.
She could contend with ordinary Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage martial artists, but she was absolutely no match for a strong expert like Huo Jingcheng.
While blocking Huo Jingcheng's attacks, Han Qiu looked toward Zhang Ruochen's direction.
Only then did she realize that the place where Zhang Ruochen had fallen earlier was already empty.
"Could it be... he's already escaped?" Han Qiu was speechless and quite annoyed in her heart. Although they weren't very familiar with each other, she had helped him once back at the Black Market.
She never expected this guy to be so disloyal, leaving her alone and escaping by himself.
What to do now?
"My Protective Jade Beads can only help me block three attacks. I've already used one, so I can still use it twice. But with Huo Jingcheng's strength, even if I use both the Ultimate Qiankun Technique and the Dark Domain, I can't possibly be his match. I don't even have a chance to escape."
"Boom!"
After exchanging seven moves with Huo Jingcheng, Han Qiu was forced to use her Protective Jade Beads again.
Knowing that Zhang Ruochen had already escaped, Han Qiu immediately unfolded her movement technique, using her fastest speed to flee into the distance.
Huo Jingcheng's speed had already reached the speed of sound. In a moment, he caught up to her, letting out a sinister laugh: "Qiu'er, hand over the account book and the Ultimate Qiankun Technique, and your uncle master might consider sparing your life."
"You're dreaming."
Han Qiu thought for a moment and then said: "You're only thinking about chasing me. Aren't you worried that the account book is on the other person?"
"Heh heh!" Huo Jingcheng laughed: "Do you really think I'm the only one who came to intercept you? That kid Zhang Ruochen can't possibly escape."
Han Qiu's heart jumped. She thought, "He keeps talking about Zhang Ruochen. Could it be that mysterious youth isn't Chen Ruo, but the Ninth Prince of Cloud Wu Commandery, Zhang Ruochen? Or is Zhang Ruochen actually Chen Ruo?"
Before Han Qiu could think further, Huo Jingcheng had already launched another attack.
With no choice, Han Qiu could only activate the Dark Domain, hoping to block Huo Jingcheng.
Her dark attribute constitution had always been her secret, but now she couldn't care about that anymore. Saving her life came first.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after Zhang Ruochen was sent flying by Huo Jingcheng's wind blade, his Ice Fire Qilin Armor was battered and broken. A sixth-rank True Martial Treasure-level battle armor was thus destroyed.
The wind blades left bloody marks on Zhang Ruochen's body, giving him some minor injuries.
Just as he was about to stand up and join forces with Han Qiu to deal with Huo Jingcheng, suddenly, a pair of metal claws reached out from underground and grabbed his arms.
"What is this?"
Suddenly, a powerful force came from those metal claws, directly dragging Zhang Ruochen more than ten meters deep underground.
Everything was pitch black. Mud and stone sealed Zhang Ruochen's mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. It was completely dark, as if those metal claws were dragging him into an abyss.
"Abyssal Ancient Sword!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword immediately flew out, slashing toward those metal claws.
Just as the Abyssal Ancient Sword slashed out, the metal claws that had been grabbing Zhang Ruochen's arms suddenly disappeared.
Regaining his freedom, Zhang Ruochen kicked his legs and immediately tried to rush out of the ground, intending to return to the surface.
At that moment, a powerful force fluctuation came from above, rushing straight toward the top of his head, as if trying to shatter his skull. Zhang Ruochen also struck out with a palm force to block that power.
"Boom!"
Under the impact of that force, Zhang Ruochen fell back into the ground and was buried even deeper.
Standing underground, a woman's laughter came from above: "Kid, if you don't hand over the account book, just wait to be buried alive underground."
Another martial arts expert!
With Zhang Ruochen's current martial arts cultivation, even if he stayed underground for a whole day, he wouldn't suffocate to death.
"Thinking you can bury me alive? I'm afraid you don't have that ability."
Zhang Ruochen stood more than ten meters deep underground, releasing his Space Domain and expanding it outward.
The space around his body grew larger and larger. In a moment, with a booming sound, the Space Domain broke through the ground.
Zhang Ruochen stood inside the Space Domain, flew up into the sky, and landed on the surface.
Not far away stood an ugly woman around fifty years old, with a thick build, dark skin, legs thicker than a bucket, and two metal chains in her hands, with metal claws connected to the other end.
Earlier, it was those metal claws that had dragged Zhang Ruochen underground.
That ugly woman couldn't see the Space Domain at all, so she was very surprised and said: "What martial technique did you just use?"
"A martial technique you'll never learn."
Zhang Ruochen then said: "Are you also a martial artist from the Four Directions Commandery?"
"I am the Town Spirit Princess of the Four Directions Commandery." That ugly woman, as sturdy as a water buffalo, said proudly.
"For a commandery princess to grow into such a form as yours, it's truly admirable." Zhang Ruochen said.
Provoked by Zhang Ruochen, the Town Spirit Princess became furious. She swung her thick arms violently, and those metal claws flew toward Zhang Ruochen again.
It must be said that this Town Spirit Princess's martial arts cultivation was indeed quite formidable, probably not just at the Heavenly Extreme Realm initial stage.
The two metal claws continuously attacked Zhang Ruochen, executing a claw technique that formed thirty-six claw imprints, completely enveloping Zhang Ruochen within them.
Zhang Ruochen's sword technique attainment was extremely high. His defense was airtight, and the two metal claws couldn't touch his body at all.
The Town Spirit Princess seemed to realize that Zhang Ruochen's sword technique attainment was very high. If they competed in agile martial techniques, even she might not be Zhang Ruochen's match.
So she changed her strategy, using a brutal fighting method, intending to crush Zhang Ruochen with pure power.
Withdrawing those metal arms, the Town Spirit Princess beat her chest with both hands, making sounds like metal colliding, and let out a long roar: "Diamond Savage Beast Body."